Baseball Rules
The rules of baseball are not as difficult as they might seem, once you get the concept of the game. Baseball is a team game with nine players on each side, played on a field with four bases connected to form a diamond. The object is to score runs by batting the ball and running round the bases. But that’s not the end of it, as the game involves the ability of each player (especially the pitcher and the batter) to analyze the situation, as well as predict the next move of the opposite team, based on observation of its members and their behavior.
The field
The playing field is a kind of an arc, extending up to 131,23 yards counting from the home base. If the ball lands outside the arc it’s called “homerun” and the offence team gets one point.
The main part of the field is called a “diamond”. The corners of the diamond are (anticlockwise) home base, 1st base, 2nd base, 3rd base. The distance between two bases is 30,62 yards, if counted from the center of the base (a square rubber pad). The batter has to run through every base consecutively, touching each one. A successful run gives the team 1 point.
The players
The team hosting the game usually plays on defense first. The players of the defense are:
1. pitcher: situated in the center of the diamond on the “rubber” – a special plate; throws the ball to the batter;
2. catcher: situated behind the pitcher on the home base; catches pitched balls not hit by the batter;
3. base players: arranged between the home base, the first, second, and third base to prevent the opposite team player from getting to the base;
4. outfield players: catch or pick up balls hit by the batter.
The player of the offence – the batter – has to hit the ball as far away as possible, to gain time.
The organization of the game
Baseball is played in two teams of 9 players each. White fist-sized ball with red stitching is used; other equipment includes mitts and the bat, as well as a special catcher’s mask.
The objective of the game is to score more points than the opposing tem by completing runs. This involves hitting a ball with a bat and running from base to base touching them on the way. Depending on their current position in the game, the two teams are called the batting team (the player of this team is hitting the ball thrown by the pitcher) and the fielding team (the pitcher from this team throws the ball to the batter, while other players attempt to stop the batter from reaching the next base).
Every baseball game has 9 innings, each including 6 outs – three for each team. In case there is a tie after all the innings have been played, additional ones are introduced, until there is a winner.
Before the game, all the players occupy the respective positions on the field. The key positions of the defense team are leftfield, centrefield and rightfield; there are also the infield players (basemen, shortstop).
The batter (the offense team player) waits for the pitcher to throw the ball, in order to hit it with the bat. The main objective of the catcher is to catch the pitch that was not hit by the batter, returning it to the pitcher.
If the batter succeeds (i.e. hits the ball within the field), he starts running to the first base. He has time until the ball is caught (picked up), and thrown to the defense team player on the base he is heading towards. If he gets to that base before that happens, he has the right to remain there; otherwise, he is declared out.
Pitching and batting
The pitcher can choose the way to throw the ball to the batter – it can be “curved”, “dipped” and “spun”, as well as simply straight and very fast: all these methods used randomly have the only objective of preventing the batter from hitting the ball and running towards the first base.
The offense team players get to the field one at a time. Each batter has 3 attempts to hit the ball. The more time it takes to the players of the opposite team to pick up the ball, the more time the batter has to run around the bases, thus scoring a point for the team. If the batter manages to hit the ball and it goes into the outfield, it’s homerun, which automatically gives the offense team 1 point. If the pitcher makes 3 strikes, which equal to the number of hits they missed, it is considered an out. The umpire then declares that the player is not entitled to that base.
Outs
The offense team can get an out (i.e. its player will be declared out) when 3 strikes are accumulated. A strike is a pitched ball judged good, but missed, or not swung at, three of which cause a batter to be out. Other ways include the defense player being tagged with the ball while running between two bases. Three outs result in switching of roles – the fielding team now becomes the offense team.
The five most common ways the offense team can get an out are:
1. strike-out: the batter didn’t get the right to run to the first base, as the pitcher made it impossible for him to hit the ball (usually this means that the batter missed three times);
2. ground-out: the batter hit the ball out to the field but the defense player picked it up and threw to the player on the first base before the batter could reach it;
3. force-out: the offense player had to run to the base, but the defense player with the ball got there before. Ground-out is one of the many kinds of a force-out;
4. fly-out: the defense player caught the rebound ball before it touched the ground;
5. tag-out: the defense player touched the offense player with the ball as the latter was between the bases.
Tactics used by the players
1. “Sacrifice hit”. The batter hits the ball lightly, so that it would fall not far on the ground. As this takes the fielders longer to react, the batter can use the time to reach the second, or even the third base.
2. “Intentional walk”. The “ball” is a single delivery of the ball by a pitcher outside certain limits and not swung at by the batter. Four balls, which might be intentionally arranged by the pitcher, let the batter advance to the first base, depriving a strong batter of a home run.
(c) BaseballNewsOnline.com
